US spending casts recovery doubts

Wednesday 13 March 2002 00:00 BST

FEEBLE spending by US consumers has called the strength of economic recovery into question. Wall Street and the dollar fell after official figures showed retail sales rose by only 0.3% in February against expectations of a 0.9% gain.

Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of US economic activity, and the figure suggests the recovery may not be as strong as many had hoped.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dived 67.47 points to 10,564.88 while the dollar's early gains were slashed. Against sterling, it was a quarter of a cent higher at $1.4125.